


Exploration in Education

by sunken__ships



Category: In the Heights - Miranda
Genre: Childhood Friends, Cute Kids, First Kiss, Fluff, Gen, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Nina the Nerd, Usnavi the Babysitter, also how to ten year olds behave?? idk my guy, do kids in america learn shakespeare at school?? well they do now, gentle reminder that Nina and Usnavi are actually super duper close!!, i love my children, idk what the actual age gap is so i guessed, sonny is ten, usnavi and nina are fifteen, yes Usnavi and Nina kiss but it's not romantic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-02
Updated: 2018-04-02
Packaged: 2019-04-17 06:30:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14182932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunken__ships/pseuds/sunken__ships
Summary: An idea sprung into Usnavi’s head, and he felt his cheeks heat up again. If he’d had more of a filter, he would have stopped himself, but as it was – “What if we-"He stopped himself just in time, and waved a hand dismissively. “Nah, never mind.”“What if we what?” Nina prompted.Usnavi shook his head. “Nothin’. Dumb idea. Pretend I didn’t say anything.”“What if we kiss each other?” Nina said, glancing over at her open bedroom door, her voice dropped to a whisper.Nina and Usnavi have always been close friends, so, during a study session, when it's revealed that neither has yet had their first kiss, they come up with a solution.





	Exploration in Education

**Author's Note:**

> so i saw the current australian production of In The Heights yesterday and it was??? life-changing. the guy who played usnavi was absolutely phenomenal. and uhh timomatic played benny?? anyway it was super amazing, but the weird thing i noticed was that nina and usnavi, for some reason, seemed to have more chemistry than vanessa and usnavi/nina and benny. which, obviously, i guess was maybe down to some unusual acting/directorial choices, but i decided to look at it not in a romantic way, but in a familial way. the scenes nina and usnavi have together in the musical, and nina's closeness to abuela, kind of lead you to believe that nina and usnavi must have grown up together, more so than with benny and/or vanessa. and the way it was handled in the aus. production made me think of this lil fic.  
> tl;dr - no, i don't ship usnavi/nina, but i think their friendship is super adorable and more people should explore it!  
> hope you enjoy xx

     Before Unsavi and Vanessa, before Nina and Benny, there had been Usnavi and Nina.

     Not exactly in the same way as the other pairings, but once, it had been the two of them all the same.

     Usnavi was fifteen, sitting behind the counter in the bodega while Abuela Claudia straightened up the candy bars. It was hot a sticky, same as always, and Usnavi was at his wit’s end trying to finish his English homework.

     “This is dumb,” he whined to Abuela. He couldn’t see her over the counter, but that didn’t stop him. “We have to read Shakespeare. Half the kids in my class barely speak English, let alone whatever the hell language Shakespeare’s written in.”

     “Ay, watch your language, _mijo_ ,” Abuela chastised.

     Usnavi grunted. “Sorry, Abuela.”

     “What did you say you were reading?”

     “Shakespeare. He wrote plays a million years ago.”

     “A million, eh?”

     Usnavi clicked his tongue in irritation, not in the mood for Abuela’s playful teasing. “You know what I mean.”

     “And you said it was written in another language? What language?” Abuela groaned as she straightened up, and wiped her brow.

     Usnavi glanced up at her, and gestured to the _Romeo and Juliet_ play in his hand. “The teachers call it English. But it ain’t.”

     Abuela frowned. “No?”

     “It’s old-fashioned English. Look–” He held up the book for her to see, pointing with his pen. “They got _thee_ and _thou_ and _doth_ and all those dumb words ain’t nobody use anymore.”

     “Schoolwork is schoolwork, _mijo_ ,” Abuela said with a shrug. “Get it done.”

     Usnavi huffed, and shoved his pen into his mouth and his book face-down in his lap to wipe his sweating palms on his shorts.

     He picked up his pen and book, took one look at the pages, saw the word _wherefore_ , and gave up. “Can I help with the store?”

     “Oh, I see,” Abuela said with a laugh, walking around the counter, so Usnavi was left staring at the backs of her legs, “so _now_ you want to help, eh? If I had known all it took was these words to get you to help me out, then I would have given you that play a long time ago.”

     “I just need a break,” Usnavi pouted. “Then I’ll get back to it, I promise. It’s so hot back here.”

     “You better not be complaining, Usnavi,” Abuela said in a level tone.

     Usnavi sulked. “I’m not.”

     “Because it sounds to me like you are.”

     “Ay, I’m not, Abuela.”

     “Because you could have babysat your cousin. I said to you–”

     Usnavi let his head roll back in despair, knowing he’d said completely the wrong thing.

     “–do you wanna babysit your cousin or do you wanna do your homework in the store? And you said to me, ‘Abuela–’”

     “I know, Abuela, I’m sorry.”

     “‘–Abuela, I don’t wanna babysit my cousin, I don’t _like_ babysitting my cousin, I wanna sit in the store and do my homework, Abuela.’ That’s what I remember you saying to me.”

     “Okay, okay.”

     “And so I said to your _tía_ , ‘I’m sorry, _Tía_ Luciana, you’ll have to go shopping later, because Usnavi has homework to do and I have the store, so we can’t babysit little Sonny until the store is closed.’ So you better not be complaining.”

     Usnavi said nothing, and sighed.

     “Did you just sigh at me?”

     Usnavi blanched. “ _No_ , Abuela, I didn’t.”

     “Good.”

     “I’m sorry for complaining.”

     “Good.” Abuela turned around and put a hand lightly to Usnavi’s cheek. “If you’re struggling, maybe ask someone for help, eh?” She tapped him under the chin and turned back to the counter. “Maybe your teacher. Or Nina.”

 

     Usnavi stood beside the phone, twirling the cord around his finger, staring at his shoes as he waited for his call to be answered. They’d finished dinner half an hour ago, and Usnavi had cleaned up, and now Sonny was annoying the hell out of Usnavi, like he always did.

     “Hey, Usnavi, can we go to the park?” Sonny said, kicking the side of Usnavi’s shoe.

     Usnavi shoved at him. “No, Sonny, it’s dark out.”

     “That’s what makes it cool!”

     Usnavi gave him a look. “Sonny, I’m on the phone.”

     Sonny grinned and wiggled his eyebrows. “Who to? Your _girlfriend_?”

     Usnavi screwed up his nose. “No, to–”

     “Hello, Rosario residence.”

     Usnavi cut himself off abruptly. “Hey! Mr Rosario! It’s Usnavi.”

     Sonny perked up. “Nina? You calling Nina?”

     “Get lost,” Usnavi hissed, shoving Sonny again.

     “Ah, Usnavi,” said Mr Rosario, Nina’s father. “Would you like to speak to Nina?”

     “If she’s free to talk,” Usnavi said, trying to keep Sonny at arm’s length as the boy battled to listen in on the conversation. “I’d appreciate it. I just need to ask her about the homework.” He moved the phone away from his mouth. “ _Sonny, piss off_.”

     “I’ll just see if she’s free,” Mr Rosario replied.

     “You piss off,” Sonny whispered harshly, smacking Usnavi’s arm out of the way.

     “Hey! Watch your language,” Usnavi said, and then said, as politely as he could into the phone, “Thank you so much, Mr Rosario.”

     He covered the end of the phone with his hand to say to Sonny at normal volume, “Sonny, leave me alone. I’ll be done in literally two minutes. It’ just a phone conversation.”

     “Yeah, with _Nina_.”

     “Nina’s my age. She’s too old for you. You’re ten.”

     “Yeah, physically. Emotionally, I’m way old.”

     Usnavi clicked his tongue. “You’re so annoying. Go away. This is important.”

     “You go away.”

     “I’m gonna tell Abuela you told me to piss off if you don’t leave me alone.”

     Sonny looked downright offended. “But you told _me_ to piss off first!”

     “She’s not gonna believe you. Scram.”

     Sonny humphed and stepped back. “I’m gonna go play in the park in the dark,” he grumbled, stomping away.

     “Don’t you dare!” Usnavi called after him.

     “Hello?”

     “Hey, Nina,” Usnavi said quickly. “How you doing?”

     “Good. Just doing some homework.”

     “Yeah, me too,” Usnavi said. “Well, I was _trying_ to. But I got stuck on the English homework. Do you know, like, anything? About Shakespeare? Coz I’m lost as shit. I don’t got _no_ clue.”

     Nina laughed. “Yeah, I got some idea. What do you need help with?”

     “All of it,” Usnavi confessed with a laugh. “But, like, the questions. And just, like, understanding it. Why we gotta learn it, anyway?”

     “Same reason we learn history, I guess,” Nina said. “Know your roots, and everything.”

     “My roots are in Puerto Rico, not in some dumb old English dude’s play,” Usnavi said. “I bet they don’t have Shakespeare in Puerto Rico.”

     Nina chuckled. “Well, you speak English, which means you gotta know about Shakespeare.”

     “But he don’t even speak English!”

     “It’s the _origins_ of English. We wouldn’t have English as we know it today without Shakespeare. He invented a ton of words we use all the time. And phrases.”

     “Oh yeah? Like what?”

     “Like, um, ‘the world’s a stage’.”

     “I never say that.”

     “Yeah, but you’ve heard of it.”

     “You don’t know that,” Usnavi mumbled, defeated.

     “Tell you what,” Nina said. “Why don’t you come over tomorrow afternoon, right after school? Just an hour.”

     “Tomorrow?” Usnavi thought about it. “Nah, I can’t. I was gonna hang out with Benny after school tomorrow.”

     “These questions are due in two days, Usnavi.”

     Usnavi groaned. “ _Okay_ , I’ll tell Benny I can’t.”

     “Hey, this is for your benefit. You’re the one who called me, remember?”

     “Yes, I know, and you’re the best, thank you.”

     “Glad to hear it,” Nina said, and Usnavi could hear the grin in her voice. “See you at school.”

     “Yeah, see ya.”

 

     The following day, once the final school bell rang, Usnavi said goodbye to Vanessa and Benny, and he and Nina walked back to Nina’s.

     Nina’s mother Camila was home, and welcomed him with a hug, and a kiss on the cheek, and a packet of chips for him and Nina to share.

     They went up to Nina’s room and sprawled out on her bed.

     They spent about an hour trawling through the work. Nina was hardly an expert herself, so she didn’t always have all the answers. There was plenty of guesswork involved. But eventually they got the work done. And finally, the conversations drifted into something other than Shakespeare.

     “Did you hear what Mia said to Elena the other day?” Nina said, tapping the end of her pen against her book.

     “No,” Usnavi said, lying on his back, staring at the ceiling, his brain feeling tired and overworked. “What did she say?” His head was on Nina’s pillow, her feet beside his head and his feet by hers.

     “I don’t know,” Nina said. “I just heard that she said something. I thought you might have heard what it was.”

     “Nah, sorry.”

     “Vanessa said they’re not even talking anymore.”

     Usnavi raised his eyebrows. “No shit?”

     Nina shushed him and slapped him on the shin. “You can’t talk like that in my house.”

     “Can’t talk like that in my house either,” Usnavi said with a cheeky grin. “Don’t stop me.”

     “Ah, I bet you only cuss when you know Abuela can’t hear you.”

     “I’m rebellious, not suicidal.”

     Nina laughed, and sat up, facing him. “Hey, Usnavi, can I ask you something?”

     Usnavi propped himself up on the heels of his hands. “Yeah, course you can. What’s up?”

     Nina went quiet, and hugged one knee to her chest. “Um, like, y’know, as a friend, but also, like, as a guy.”

     Usnavi frowned. “As a guy?”

     “Like, I’m asking you, as guy. I want a guy’s perspective.”

     Usavni nodded. “Yeah, go ahead.”

     Nina bit her bottom lip. “Do you think it’s weird that I haven’t had my first kiss yet?”

     Usnavi immediately blossomed a deep red. “No,” he blurted.

     Nina glanced up, and cocked her head a little at him. “Are you… blushing?” she asked with a giggle.

     Usnavi cleared his throat and crossed his legs, ducking his head. “Me? Naw. No way. Blushing’s for girls.”

     “What are you embarrassed about?”

     “I ain’t embarrassed.”

     Nina’s good mood disappeared, and she sighed. “It’s because you’re weirded out, right? Because I’m fifteen and I haven’t had my first kiss yet?” She shook her head, staring at her hands in her lap. “God, I’m such a weirdo.”

     “No,” Usnavi said emphatically. “It ain’t that. And you’re not a weirdo.” He paused. “Well, I mean, you study _way_ too much. That’s a little weird.”

     Nina managed a slight chuckle at that. “I’m never gonna have my first kiss,” she lamented. “Coz when guys find out that I haven’t had my first kiss, they’re gonna get weirded out by it like you did, and they’re not gonna want to kiss me. I don’t even know _how_ to kiss someone.”

     “I wasn’t weirded out,” Usnavi insisted. “I…” He hesitated.

     “What?” Nina asked, looking up at him.

     Usnavi screwed up his face. “I… haven’t had my first kiss, either.”

     Nina’s eyes widened. “You haven’t? But what about that story you always tell about the girl from New York City?”

     “That’s a lie,” Usnavi confessed. “That’s why I… got embarrassed. Coz I’m worried that people’ll think it’s weird, too.”

     Nina smiled. “I think people’ll think it’s weirder when they find out you’ve been lying.”

     “Well, I don’t mean for anyone else to find out,” Usnavi said. “So don’t tell anyone.”

     “I won’t. Cross my heart.” Nina shrugged helplessly. “It’s not like I’ve been saving my first kiss for anyone special or anything. Just… no one’s wanted to kiss me. And it’s sometimes hard being friends with Vanessa – like, I love her so much, she’s my best friend, but she makes it all look so easy. And I just have no idea how she does it, and I’m too embarrassed to ask for advice. I’m not saying I want to go around kissing everyone, but it’d be nice to at least, like, have _some_ experience.”

     Usnavi nodded. “Yeah. I get you.”

     “So I guess I just wanted to ask if, as a guy, you’d be, like, turned off, knowing I’d never kissed anyone before,” Nina concluded glumly.

     “ _I_ wouldn’t be turned off,” Usnavi said.

     “Yeah, but that’s coz _you_ haven’t had _your_ first kiss yet.”

     “You don’t have to keep bringing it up.”

     Nina smiled and shook her head slightly exasperatedly.

     An idea sprung into Usnavi’s head, and he felt his cheeks heat up again. If he’d had more of a filter, he would have stopped himself, but as it was – “What if we–”

     He stopped himself just in time, and waved a hand dismissively. “Nah, never mind.”

     “What if we what?” Nina prompted.

     Usnavi shook his head. “Nothin’. Dumb idea. Pretend I didn’t say anything.”

     “What if we kiss each other?” Nina said, glancing over at her open bedroom door, her voice dropped to a whisper.

     “You were thinkin’ it too?”

     Nina shrugged. “It kinda makes sense. Like, we’re friends, and I trust you, and it can just stay between us, and we’ll both just get it out of the way, and it’ll be no big deal. Kissing won’t seem so… scary, anymore.”

     Usnavi nodded. “Yeah,” he breathed. “I trust you too,” he added.

     Nina gnawed on her bottom lip, and glanced to her doorway again. “Do you actually wanna do this?”

     Usnavi shrugged a shoulder. “I guess? If you want to?”

     “If you want to.”

     “I don’t mind.”

     Nina threw her hands up in the air. “Fine, let’s just do it. Get it over and done with.”

     Usnavi’s heart was suddenly pounding in his chest. “Okay,” he said, very aware of how small his voice sounded.

     He cleared his throat.

     Nina slipped off the bed, and went to her bedroom door, closing it as quietly as she could.

     Usnavi swallowed. Why was he so nervous? It was just Nina. He’d known Nina his whole life. Why did something as stupid as a ‘first kiss’ make him so nervous? Why was it so important?

     Nina breathed out, shaking her hands out and walking back over to the bed. She sat down, opposite Usnavi, and squared her shoulders, looking him in the eye. “Okay,” she said calmly. “So how do we do this?”

     Usnavi snorted. “Man, if I knew, then we wouldn’t have to do it.”

     Nina huffed a laugh. “I guess.”

     Usanvi licked his lips. “We’ve seen movies and stuff, though, right?” he said. “So I guess we… Well, first we gotta be closer together.”

     They shuffled closer, to their knees were just touching.

     Nina rubbed her hands on her shorts. “Are you nervous, or is it just me?” she asked with a shaky chuckle.

     Usnavi shook his head. “I’m fucking shitting bricks.”

     Nina laughed.

     They had a moment where they just stared at each other in the eyes, unsure, and then Nina rolled her gaze to the Heavens. “This is stupid,” she said. “We should just do it.”

     “Yeah,” Usnavi said.

     “I just… I don’t wanna get it wrong.”

     “Me neither.” Usanvi raised an eyebrow. “Well, since neither of us have had our first kiss before, I guess we won’t know whether we’re doing it wrong, so there’s that, right?”

     “It’s just pressing our mouths together,” Nina said. “How can you do it wrong?”

     “From what I’ve heard, you can _definitely_ do it wrong.”

     “Not helping, Usnavi.”

     “Sorry.”

     Nina shook out her hands again and dragged them down her face. “Ugh. Okay. O _kay_.”

     Usnavi just waited. He had no idea what to do. “Should I touch your face?”

     “Touch my face?” Nina said.

     “Like, y’know, how they do in the movies.” He awkwardly lifted a hand and placed it on Nina’s cheek.

     Nina frowned a little in thought. “That… feels okay,” she said. “Sometimes they do it like this.” Usnavi dropped his hand and Nina raised both of hers, cradling Usnavi’s jaw.

     “I don’t mind that,” Usnavi said. “Your hands are kinda sweaty, though.”

     “Oh. Sorry.” Nina dropped her hands and wiped them again.

     “It’s okay.”

     Nina huffed in frustration. “Can we just… Can we just do it? The longer we wait, the worse it’ll be. And the more likely it is that my mom’ll barge in here. And she loves you, but this would be a little hard to explain.”

     Usnavi nodded. “Yeah. Okay. Let’s just…”

     Nina leant forward abruptly, like she was going to smash her lips into his, but then stopped, nerves suddenly getting the better of her. “Um…”

     Usnavi leant forward, slowly, and then Nina met him in the middle, and they both closed their eyes.

     It was hardly an explosive kiss. Their lips met, and then a few seconds later, parted.

     They sat back, and Nina nodded. “Okay,” she said with a sigh. “Done.”

     Usnavi hesitated. “Does that count?”

     Nina’s nose screwed up. “Huh?”

     “Was it long enough?”

     “I didn’t know there was a time limit.”

     “I dunno,” Usnavi said unsurely.

     Nina fidgeted. “Well… _did_ it count?” she asked. “Or do we have to, y’know, kiss… _more_?”

     “What d’you mean, more?”

     “Like…” Nina looked uncomfortable. “Tongue.”

     Usnavi recoiled. “Eugh! Uh-uh, no way.”

     Nina threw up her hands. “I dunno, I thought that’s what you were implying!”

     “I didn’t mean _that_ far. I meant, like, just a little longer.”

     “Maybe we could try again,” Nina suggested. “No tongue, obviously, but… more?”

     “I still don’t know what you mean by ‘more’.”

     “Just…” Nina clicked her tongue. “Can I just show you?”

     Usnavi’s heart started beating rapidly again. “Uh, okay.”

     “We don’t have to.”

     “No, it’s okay.”

     Nina nodded, and waved Usnavi closer. “Okay.”

     Their lips met once more, and this time, after a second or two, Nina started moving her lips, and, after another second or two, Usnavi followed suit.

     It was clumsy, and they were leaning over their crossed legs, which didn’t help, but after a short while they found a sort of rhythm.

     It was still strange, kissing a friend, but Usnavi just focused on the feeling of the kiss; Nina focused on the technique, picking up as much as she could and filing it away for later use.

     This kiss wasn’t that long, either, all things considered, and soon they leant back.

     Nina beamed, satisfied, and Usnavi couldn’t help but match her smile.

     “What did you think?” Nina asked.

     Usnavi nodded, and wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand. “Good. I definitely think that counts.”

     “Me too.” Nina tucked her hair behind her ears. “I’ve had my first kiss,” she said to herself.

     “Yeah, and with me,” Usnavi joked. “Ain’t no other lady had that pleasure. You’re welcome.”

     Nina laughed. She put her hand on Usnavi’s knee. “Thanks for this.”

     “No need to thank me,” Usnavi said. “You helped me out more than anything.”

     “Nina!” Camila called. “Is your bedroom door closed?”

     Nina scrambled to open it. “It closed by itself; sorry, Mom!”

     “You know the rule. I don’t care how lovely Usnavi is, a rule is a rule.”

     Nina rolled her eyes, and Usnavi grinned. “I should probably get going, it’s late,” he said, gathering up his school supplies.

     “Sure,” Nina said easily. She leant against her doorframe, watching him as he packed his schoolbag and slung it over his shoulder. “I’ll walk you out.”

     Usnavi followed her out, and he said goodbye to Camila, who made him promise to visit again soon, and to say hi to Abuela for her, and then Usnavi was hugging Nina goodbye at the door and thanking her for the help with the homework, and then off he went, a sense of accomplishment putting a spring in his step.

 

     Usnavi had a moment of trepidation the next morning, as he was getting ready for school. Would things be weird between him and Nina? Had she told anyone about their kiss? Had she told Vanessa? Oh God, not Vanessa. Did they pretend it had never happened? What was the protocol for this?

     He made it to school, and his friends were there, chatting and laughing as always.

     “Hey,” he said, approaching them.

     “Hey, little homie!” Benny said, slinging an arm around his shoulders. “We hanging out this afternoon?”

     “Yeah, if Abuela doesn’t change her mind,” Usnavi said.

     He locked eyes with Nina. There was a split second of mild panic, and then Nina smiled. “Morning,” she said, just the same as she always did, and Usnavi smiled back.

     “Morning,” he replied.

     “Oh my God,” Vanessa said, “did you hear what Maria said to Elena?”

     Nina and Usanvi looked to each other again, and grinned. “No!” Nina said. “Tell me. I need to know.”

     “I heard they aren’t talking anymore?” Usnavi added.

     “Ugh, old news,” Benny groaned.

     Usnavi listened intently as Vanessa told the story.

     Life wasn’t always easy, but that at moment, it was pretty great.


End file.
